


Alternate, But Universal (The Same But Different Remix)

by dorkishavenger



Category: Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-15
Updated: 2010-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-09 11:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkishavenger/pseuds/dorkishavenger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nanami just wants to get home. And also to pull Cam's face off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alternate, But Universal (The Same But Different Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Estirose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Alternate Universes](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/738) by Estirose. 



Nanami ducked a swipe from a Magerappa and threw herself forward into a smooth roll, automatically noting Isshu's location as she came back up to her feet. She wobbled for an instant, dizzy, but recovered quickly enough.

There was a surprisingly large number of westerners along with Jakanja and her teammates. What was *that* shop over there? Some kind of clothes shop, that she'd never seen before, something in bright colours with lots of fluorescents. Oh, this wasn't right. This wasn't right at *all*. "Where are we?" she breathed, absently lashing out with a spin kick.

Huh.

The last Jakanja vanished. She'd somehow worked her way around next to Isshu -- Kouta was going to tease her *so* hard -- and let her henshin drop just as he put a hand on her shoulder.

He yelped. She cringed, both from the earsplitting yelp and from the unaccustomed touch, not that she minded him touching her! Then he let his henshin disappear, too, and he wasn't Isshu.

Isshu wasn't Isshu.

This was a logical conundrum that evaded her for the moment. All she could do was gape at him. "I-Isshu?" she tried, knuckling her eyes, but he resolutely refused to change into Isshu from this slighter person with dark, spiky hair.

Yousuke was visible over not-Isshu's shoulder, running towards them. He hurdled a bench, calling to some Blake person to calm down, or possibly he was telling this Blake to put the ointment on in small circular motions; she wasn't feeling very good at English just then.

Yousuke sounded funny. Then his suit disappeared, and he looked funny, too, and panic began to bubble up inside her stomach.

Not-Isshu took hold of her other shoulder, speaking to her calmly but firmly.

She elbowed him in the face.

* * *

"I'm sorry!" she wailed for the thousandth time. She was in their secret underground ninja base now, with 'Shane' and 'Dustin' and 'Hunter', and 'Blake' over there in the corner. Holding an icepack to his nose. Whoops. This was quite a good place, a little bigger than their own, with a low table in the centre and lots of rock for atmosphere. Also, an enormous computer system, which Dustin had already warned her not to touch if she didn't want Cam cranky like he had a whole swarm of bees in his pants.

"It's all right, really," Blake said indistinctly, giving her a cockeyed grin from behind the icepack. She couldn't stop replaying in her head how he'd dropped like a stone. All because of her.

At least her English had come back to her. Well, sort of. "Blaaaake, Tori will be mad at me."

"No, she'll probably laugh," Shane told her, dropping a hand on Blake's shoulder. Shane was smirking, looking as smug as Yousuke when he thought he'd gotten one over on Oboro-san (which never worked) but it wasn't hard to see the worry in the way that he and the others looked at each other.

She was welcome enough here, but she wasn't Tori. And she needed to be *home*. Not here.

"You think Tori's all right?" Hunter asked, and Nanami bowed her head. Yes, it wasn't her fault that whatever this was had happened, but she was still sitting here when *her* friends must be worrying about her, and their precious Tori wasn't here.

Shurikenger looked up from the computer. It was so wrong to see him sitting there. He should be a woman. And not Shurikenger. "I can't get a lock on her morpher," he said. "Can't even get a cellphone signal through. No way to tell. I'm working on it."

Nanami squeaked miserably. She couldn't quite follow everything he'd said as she was tired, and her English wasn't the best, but the basics were pretty obvious.

Dustin dropped down next to her on the floor, and bumped her companionably with his shoulder. "Hey, not your fault, okay? I'm sure she's okay. Tor' can take care of herself. She hits hard, just like you. D'you think there are teams like us all over the world, then, Cam? Another ten or twenty versions of me?"

"Perish the thought," Cam said dryly.

All right, this was just too strange. He was Shurikenger. But he wasn't, too.

She gave Dustin an apologetic smile and got to her feet, walking over casually to Cam's chair in front of their big computer system. This system was so big it was sure to make Oboro-san jealous, except the only problem was that there was no way Nanami would remember any of the details. So perhaps it was best not to say anything.

She peered over Cam's shoulder. He huffed, typing faster. She couldn't follow what he was typing.

Now.

Nanami grabbed his ear and dug the fingers of her other hand into his cheek. His stubble prickled under her fingertips. "I know it's you, Shurikenger!" she wailed in Japanese. "Come on, henshin! Stop pretending!"

"Ow ow ow ow ow owwww," Cam said, shuddering. "Can you *stop* that now, please? I have enough problems with my own morons!"

"Heyyyy," Dustin said amiably, obviously not offended in the slighest.

Nanami took her hands off him, staring at him suspiciously. He refused to morph into Shurikenger, which, really, was most impolite of him. Why did Shurikenger always have to make things so difficult?

Blake gave her a concerned look from across the room, but she couldn't meet his eyes. He wasn't *right*.

Shane was on his feet next to her, running his fingers through his short dark hair. "Hey, Nanami, how about we take you out for a while, and let Cam do his thing?"

"What's his thing?" Nanami asked blankly. "Some kind of sexual practice?"

...why were words less scary in English?

Shane spluttered, "No," just as she shook her head, blushing furiously.

* * *

Hunter and Blake hung back, but Shane and Dustin seemed very keen on being friendly, linking arms with her as they headed into town. She wondered if that reflected their relationship with Tori. She missed Yousuke and Kouta so very very badly, but Shane reached around her to smack Dustin over some stupid comment, and Dustin whined about being picked on, and she managed to smile.

* * *

Skateboarding was strange. Yes, she'd seen it before, she wasn't just some idiot, but actually staying upright while on one of these contraptions?!

She ended up sitting on it, knees up to her chest, and riding down the ramp. Shane looked disappointed, but Dustin laughed his head off.

* * *

Dustin wasn't as impressed when they tried 'motocross'. Turned out that "you scratched my bike" wasn't, in fact, some kind of western slang compliment. It meant "you scratched my bike".

Perhaps she should stop looking for deeper meanings.

"And yet, still better than non-cyber Cam," Shane said. She had no idea what *that* meant.

* * *

Blake seemed to think she'd like surfing. She bowed politely to him, but found herself making a sand castle with Dustin instead.

Shane scoffed. "What are you, babies?"

Nanami bristled, looking up at him from her cross legged position in the sand. She protested, "This is f-"

"You need a *moat*," Shane sighed, and she let her mouth close, grinning to herself as he sat down with them and began to redesign the outside of the castle.

Dustin and Shane bickered amiably, while Blake and Hunter talked nearby. Blake kept shifting position, eyes darting over to her. She smiled once or twice but found it too confronting to make eye contact with him.

Hunter loomed. He appeared to be very good at looming.

* * *

She was almost -- almost sad when Shane's 'morpher' went off. "Go for Shane."

_"Shane, I can replicate the dimensional incursion. Please get everyone back here so I can send Nanami home."_

Nanami nodded excitedly, then realised she had no idea what the first sentence meant. Dustin had an elbow on Shane's shoulder, rubbing his forehead as if his brain hurt. Hunter and Blake shrugged simultaneous shrugs as the wind blew their hair back mysteriously, simultaneously. At least she wasn't the only confused one.

"Dude, what? I mean, I got the last part..."

_"I can recreate the event that brought Nanami here? ...I can fix everything?"_

Shane high-fived Dustin. "THAT, I got."

* * *

Nanami stood next to the console, clutching the two wires nervously. "Goodbye, everyone," she called. "Thank you for your time."

If this electrocuted her she was going to be very cranky.

"And I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow," Blake muttered.

She didn't even pretend to understand.

The lights flickered, as the giant computer whirred into some kind of activity.

Everything vanished.

* * *

Yousuke, Kouta, Isshu, Ikkou, and Oboro-san shimmered into existence around her. "NANAMI," Yousuke said, face and shoulders easing as he bounced forward. Kouta was right behind him, and the others, too, all patting her and congratulating her on being back.

Isshu made sure to meet her eyes and smile. She managed a smile back. Now this was *right*.

"Is that the latest western hairstyle?" Kouta asked.

Nanami blinked at him, then craned her neck to see herself in the reflection on Oboro-san's computer. Her hair stuck out to all sides, much like Kouta's.

She shrieked.


End file.
